


secret-non-denomination-winter-solstice-pals-gift-swap-party

by cyanloversupreme



Category: Political RPF - US 19th c.
Genre: But like. Worse., High School AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-18
Updated: 2017-12-18
Packaged: 2019-02-16 12:22:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13053903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cyanloversupreme/pseuds/cyanloversupreme
Summary: Nikky B tries to get his OTP back together via a gift exchange. Everything is very out of character.





	secret-non-denomination-winter-solstice-pals-gift-swap-party

**Author's Note:**

> I definitely need a snack, I've been studying for like a week and didn't leave the house at all this weekend except to go to the library.
> 
> I basically got obsessed with Nikki B after a) a trip to the homeland of Pennsylvania (a lot of my family is Quaker and Pennsylvanian) where I got to see the 2nd bank etc etc and b) my gov textbook mentioned Daniel Webster once and I was like I've seen that before... mix that together with finals week and voila. I'm so dead. 
> 
> I cannot believe I did it. I wrote the most out of character fic I've ever written. I'm amazed. What a new and innovative way to procrastinate.

While Nick Biddle wasn’t necessarily the most competitive person on the entire planet, he frequently spent time with the debate team. In fact, he’d been persuaded into joining the speech side of things, and ended up writing a (rousing to him) speech about the 2007-08 financial crisis. It had some sleek visual aids on foam boards and everything.

On that particular afternoon in the debate room, there weren’t very many people hanging around. Usually, the room stayed full until 6:00, but because it was a Tuesday very near to finals, not many people were sticking around to argue about whether or not gluten free bread would be developed sooner under communism or capitalism. 

Nick was working on pasting a graph from the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission report onto his poster when none other than Henry Clay ambled into the room. After glancing around the room to see who was present, his eyes settled upon his acquaintance, Nicholas Biddle.

“Eyyy Nicki B, how’re you,” Henry said, sitting down beside him.

“I doing quite well actually. I just got a new book from Tom about the Doric order of Greek architecture,” Nick replied with a nonchalant sigh.

“That’s good,” Henry said, ignoring the fact that he didn’t know who this “Tom” was for conversation’s sake. “So. Erm. You know John Calhoun, right?”

“Don’t you two hang out together often?” Nick said. Obviously, he knew John Calhoun, they’d been friends for quite a while. “Didn’t you date at one point?”

“Well. Erm. Yes,” Henry said, suddenly uncomfortable. “Anyway, I uh…”  
“You uh…?”

“Well. I like. Erm. I like him?” Henry said.

“You like like him?” Nick said, in a softly mocking manner.

“Well yes,” Henry said. “Well other than the fact that he’s a libertarian. But nobody’s perfect.”

“Mmmm.”

“Anyway. I was wondering if you were going to the tournament this Saturday,” Henry said.

“Yeah, probably. It’s unfortunately placed in the calendar, but I want to debut my new speech.”

 

Eventually, Henry left the room, and Nick was left to his own thoughts. He knew that if he wanted to keep his position essentially running the finances of the school (which didn’t really benefit him, but he keenly enjoyed), he’d need to get Henry and John to be a united front.

Clearly, Henry was already on board with the idea, but he didn’t know about John. Nick wasn’t exactly a conniving politician, but he wanted, at the very least, to have his friends back together. It was vain, but they were a cute couple. And less arguing between Henry and John meant more time for Nick to enjoy his own peace and quiet, preferably reading in a bathtub instead of mediating fights.

Nick also knew that the secret-non-denomination-winter-solstice-pals-gift-swap-party drawing was happening the next day. Perhaps if he was able to let Henry “draw” John for the gift exchange, they’d suddenly remember their affection for each other, and voila, bank problem solved.

The one problem was Nick’s lack of ability to contrive any sort of plot, bar perhaps a plot to beat one of his siblings to another slice of cake. So he decided to call his boyfriend. And Cadwalader explained that Nick would probably have to leave out John’s name until the last moment, and then let Henry draw it out of the hat last. 

This plan made far more sense than Nick’s initial plan to put John’s name on top and hand it off to Henry immediately. Cadwalader had explained that there were too many variables if other names were included in the hat, and Nick had spaced on that detail initially.

 

~~~

“So, we’re going to be drawing for our secret-non-denomination-winter-solstice-pals-gift-swap-party now,” Nick announced to the debate team the next day. He took out his best hat (which also matched his current outfit), and started to place every team member’s name in. Finally, he slipped John Calhoun’s name into his blazer pocket for later.

Nick draws first, looking down at his slip of paper to find that he is tasked with finding a gift for Henry’s debate partner, Daniel. He then passes the hat around the rest of the room, until there are no slips left.  
Suddenly, in somehow the most unconvincing manner possible, he “accidentally” finds the slip of paper on the ground, and hands it off to Henry with a flourish

 

~~~

“Hey Nick,” Henry said, looking up from his laptop.

“Yeah?” Nick said, looking up from his Brooks Brothers catalogue.

“I got John as my solstice buddy or whatever.”

“You mean, he’s your secret-non-denomination-winter-solstice-pal?” 

“…Yes,” Henry replied. They were sitting in the library, “working” on important “school stuff” which just meant sitting in the stacks and gossiping. “And I mean. What do I get him?”

“A nice copy of Pride and Prejudice. He’ll definitely be in the mood for romance after that,” Nick said, slightly leaning against the cold, metal bookshelf behind him.

“I get that your dream is to have like. A huge house and a cute Mr Darcy-ish husband, but I don’t think that’s John’s idea of. A gift to woo.”

“A book on Libertarian politics?” Nick suggested.

“I mean, I guess.”

 

~~~

“Hey Tom,” Nick said on one of his hour-long phone calls with his boyfriend.

“Yeah?” Tom replied. 

“I have to get a gift for my ex-boyfriend. I don’t know how I feel about it,” Nick said. He was sitting on his (lavishly over decorated) bed, staring into his reflection in the window.

“I see. It’s not exactly the end of the world,” Tom said. He was also staring into his reflection in the window.

“I guess,” Nick said, melodramatically sighing. “I miss you.”

“I miss you too,” Tom said. “Hey, the next time there’s a Model UN meet in New York, we’ll be able to see each other.”

“You better be taking me to the Met,” Nick said. A date in the Met would be great—combining all the Greek art with Tom sounded like the recipe for something great.

“Oh of course,” Tom said. “What a nerd.”

“Says the guy who met me at a Model UN conference,” Nick replied, with mock outrage.

“Says the guy worried about having his ex-boyfriend in a debate team gift exchange.”

“Fine, fine. But you should really wear a suit when I see you next,” Nick said.

“Hm. Maybe. You know I don’t even really dress up for Model UN.”

“Yes. And it’s atrocious.”

 

~~~

The day of the secret-non-denomination-winter-solstice-pals-gift-swap-party arrived, and the debate team slowly filed in with their gifts (some better wrapped than others.) Nick had wrapped his gift to Dan so well that he was convinced that he had the best wrapped gift on the table. Nobody could top the amazing job he’d done with the ribbons on the gift.  
Henry handed Daniel’s gift to him.

“Hint: I wear glasses,” Daniel said, reading aloud. “This isn’t the greatest hint, but given the wrapping job, I bet it’s Nick.”

Nick nodded his head, and smiled while Dan pulled out a pair of knee-high socks with fish on them. “So you can wear them when you go fishing or hiking or whatever,” Nick said.

Then, Nick had to settle down for the long arduous wait to get to John’s gift. Of fucking course he was the last gift to be distributed. 

Before he even read the tag, John said that “By process of elimination, Henry must have been the person to give this to me.” He then proceeded, smiling to open the gift. It was a stuffed, plush porcupine with a color scheme similar to the libertarian logo. 

“Uh. You should. Look at the note,” Henry said. 

John read the note (which said “Hint: I’d like to be with you again,” a rather bold move for a debate team gift exchange), and looked back up at Henry. The corners of John’s lips curled up into a smile, and as the room began to get more hectic (as all the gifts had been exchanged), he approached Henry. They then retreated to the corner, and Nick spotted them smiling at each other.

 

~~~

“Yeah, so they both totally are back together now,” Nick said, enthusiastically on the phone.

“That’s wonderful,” Tom replied. 

“Yes! And maybe it means I get to keep my treasury position, who knows!” Nick said. He’d completely forgotten the motive behind his matchmaking until that very moment.

“Of course,” Tom said. “Hey. So. I might be able to come down and visit you around Christmastime.”

“Oh that would be wonderful!” Nick said, already contriving several ways to get Tom into a suit.

**Author's Note:**

> Hahahahaha. Anyway, maybe I'll write a sequel maybe I won't. I know, the ending was basically a copout, it's fine, this is fine.
> 
> I am literally writing an informative speech on the 2008 financial crisis, so maybe I'm just projecting here. I had a long convo w/the assistant coach about Biddle, Keynesian economics, and CDO's. It was fun.
> 
> Also the vast majority of this fic are just head canons from fauvester on tumblr. So yeah. This isn't very original.


End file.
